People News, July 2025

Smith’s Center for the Environment, Ecological Design and Sustainability (CEEDS) has received a grant from the National Wildlife Foundation, Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom to help protect endangered wildlife at MacLeish Field Station. The grant will support the restoration of woody habitat at MacLeish that is home to the endangered Eastern rat snake.

Rae Traver-Fallick ’27 is the recipient of a Jeff Ubben Posse Fellowship to support an eight-week summer internship with the founder and CEO of Duolingo, the language learning company. Traver-Fallick, a Smith Posse 9 Scholar from New York who is majoring in mathematical sciences and statistical and data sciences, is one of only five Posse Scholars nationwide to be selected for the fellowship.

Lidia Ortiz Zamora ’17, an equity and inclusion analyst in Smith’s Institutional Research Department, is the recipient of a 2025 Rising Star Award from the National Association for Institutional Research. Ortiz, who earned her Smith degree in economics and psychology, and a master of science degree from Carnegie Mellon University, has worked on Smith’s Racial Justice Action plan. She is a founding member of the Consortium on Financing in Higher Education’s Early Career IR Group, which won that organization’s Joseph R. Pettit Award this past spring.

Rachel Elizabeth Fish, associate professor of education and child study, is the co-author of “Weighing Risks: How Families of Disabled Children Made School Choices During the Pandemic,” published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Angie Hauser, professor of dance, performed in a new work in May in collaboration with choreographer Bebe Miller. Indifferent Forest was performed at the Harlem Stage in New York City.

Basketball Coach Lynn Hersey has been named as a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Hersey, who just completed her 18th season at the helm of Smith’s basketball program, played at Dexter Regional High School in Maine and at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. Under her leadership, Smith’s basketball team has competed in three consecutive NCAA finals, and earned five NEWMAC championships.

Loretta Ross, associate professor of the study of women and gender, received an honorary degree in May from Hunter College, where she also served as commencement speaker. Ross, who teaches courses at Smith on white supremacy and human rights, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022 and in 2024, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is the author of Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel.

James Sacré, Doris Silbert Professor Emeritus in the Humanities (French language and literature), is the recipient of the French Goncourt Prize for Poetry in recognition of his entire body of work. David Ball, professor emeritus of French language and literature and comparative literature, was the translator for Sacré’s 2025 book, Des Objets Nous Accompagnent.

Kate Soper, Iva Dee Hiatt Professor of Music, debuted her opera “Orpheus Orchestra Opus Onus” with the New York Philharmonic in May. Soper was a soloist for the performance of the piece, which reviewers described as “a love letter to the Philharmonic.” The New York Times also cited Soper’s opera as among the “Best Classical Music of 2025, So Far.”

Cheng Xu, assistant professor of government, is the author of “Manila’s hidden hand in Bangsamoro politics,” published in May in East Asia Forum Quarterly.

Madelyn Sher, M.F.A. ’24 is the recipient of The Emory Arts Fellowship in Dance from Emory University. Arts fellows spend one semester teaching an undergraduate class in their field and a second semester partnering with a faculty member from anywhere in the university to co-teach a course and create a capstone project.

Shevaughn Holness ’23 is the recipient of funding from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program to continue her work on population genetics at Brown University, where she is studying for a doctorate. Holness, who earned her Smith degree in biological sciences, is working on projects aimed at predicting how genetically disposed one may be to particular traits, and how historical events in the U.S. have shaped the population structure of specific communities.

Zoya Azhar ’20 was selected to participate in HumanitiesDC’s 14-week community journalism program where she produced an investigative report about organizing by renters in the Adams Morgan neighborhood published in Washington City Paper. Azhar earned her Smith degree in English language and literature.

Lydia Warren AC ’14, director of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, received a Leadership in Arts Award from the Fairmont Arts and Humanities Commission for her passionate advocacy for the arts and her efforts to expand cultural programming. The folklife center was named Institution of the Year by the West Virginia Association of Museums. Warren majored in music at Smith and earned a Ph.D. in music from the University of Virginia Charlottesville.

Food writer and editor Helen Rosner ’04 is the recipient of a 2025 James Beard Media Award for her profile story, “Padma Lakshmi Walks into a Bar,” published in The New Yorker magazine where she is a staff member. Rosner, who earned her Smith degree in philosophy, was formerly an editor at Eater magazine.

Human rights attorney Sarah Belal ’01 was a panelist this past spring for “Realizing the Convention on the Rights of Child in Pakistan,” an event sponsored by the National Commission on the Rights of Child. Belal, who is executive director of Justice Project Pakistan, majored in history at Smith and earned a law degree from Oxford University.

Jennifer C. Jones, M.S.W. ’00 received the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award for her commitment to the “unity of the global poor and dispossessed organizing across color lines to fight for everyone’s economic human rights.” Jones co-founded Rising Caps Collective in 2021, which supports expansive healing to address the traumatic legacies of colonization, slavery, and capitalism.

Michelle McGuire ’90 is the new executive vice president of business affairs and chief operations officer for the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. McGuire, who earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Smith and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University, previously worked as an administrator at Children’s National Hospital.

Kim Noltemy ’90, chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 2025 for her work in the arts and philanthropy. Under Noltemy’s leadership, the philharmonic has helped raise funds for Angelenos affected by wildfires. An East Asian studies major at Smith, Noltemy formerly served as president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Association and also worked as COO for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Elizabeth Bailey ’89 has been named a Bar Foundation Fellow by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation for her work in employment law. She earned her Smith degree in history and a law degree at Suffolk University. Fellows are elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding achievement in the legal profession and dedication to serving the public.

Nancy Daly ’81 is the recipient of Actors’ Equity Foundation’s Patrick Quinn Award for Distinguished Service to Actors for her efforts to better the lives of actors and stage managers. Daly has served for years on Equity’s National Council and is the founder of Actors and Artists Unite 2 End Alzheimer’s. Daly earned her Smith degree in theatre.

Author Amy Bloom, M.S.W. ’78 has published I'll Be Right Here, a multigenerational historical novel focused on Algerian siblings in Paris during World War II. Bloom’s book was recently profiled in the New York Times. 

Author and social worker Peggie Gillespie ’69 received the Hostetter-Habib Family Award in May from the LGBTQ+ rights organization, Family Equality. Gillespie, who is co-founder and director of Family Diversity Projects, earned her Smith degree in theatre and a master of liberal arts degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma.